The Princess of Wales has now been seen at two public events this year, Trooping the Colour and the Wimbledon men’s final. In previous years, Kate’s appearance at the men’s final marked the start of her summer holiday. There have been years where no one hears anything about Kate or sees her in public for over two months of her “summer holiday.” I would imagine it will be the same this year – her Wimbledon appearance will be the last time we see her until September or October. But she’s given royal commentators enough to proclaim that Kate is “back” and we’ll be seeing more of her from here on out. Yeah… I doubt it.

Princess Kate dazzled at Wimbledon as cheering fans welcomed her with a well-deserved standing ovation, a royal expert says. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said he thought we’d be seeing more of Kate from now on.

He told The Sun: “I think it meant a tremendous amount for the Princess of Wales to firstly be there, carry out her duty as patron of the all England tennis club, and there’s no question that Wimbledon is very close to her heart, as is the game of tennis. It was also a very significant moment when she had a standing ovation because this shows how people have cared so deeply for her during these very difficult months, when she’s after a major abdominal operation, undertaking preventative chemotherapy, which is so daunting.”

The commentator described Princess Kate as “relaxed and at ease” during the event – and hailed her appearance as vital and “very joyous” for the royal family.

“I think if you wear a dress that purple as stunning as that, and carry it off with the poise and beauty that only she can, she knew where the main attention, apart from on the tennis court, of course, was going to be,” he added.

Looking ahead, Mr Fitzwilliams also believed more appearances “might very well” be on the horizon.

“It is a very difficult time for the royal family with two senior royals including the King battling cancer, and this is undoubtedly a step forward, a step forward that makes people happy that everyone could welcome, and where a standing ovation was so well deserved,” he added.

[From The Sun]

Don’t get me wrong, I was surprised by the standing ovation for Kate as well and I genuinely think that her Wimbledon appearance was a net positive for Kate and for the monarchy. Average people haven’t paid close attention to all of the completely bonkers sh-t that’s gone down this year in the royal world and all they know is what the palace tells them. Which is a win for the palace and for Kate. Now Kate will disappear for months again and they’ll say “well, the poor sausage is allowed to have a summer vacation!” But will the conversation change in the fall? I wonder.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.